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One of the first women to complain to the school said she was asked by senior staff to provide a "detailed" statement of the allegations before being questioned.

During the trial at Brighton Crown Court, she said she was "slightly horrified to discover that he continued to teach", adding: "I hoped the school would act on our information but I don't believe anything like that happened."

In his evidence, Richard Poulton, the former headmaster between 1987 and 1996 said he took a "soft" approach towards the allegations because he was a school "success story" and they were dealt with "in-house".

He said he knew of complaints from four pupils over three years before asking for Karim's resignation but claimed Ms Cairncross mostly dealt with such matters.

Elizabeth Cairncross

Ms Cairncross said she could not remember if she ever mentioned the matter to child services.

Somerset Live contacted Ms Cairncross after the trial.

A press statement from Wells Cathedral School was supplied: "Current principal of Wells Cathedral School, Elizabeth Cairncross, was recently a witness for the prosecution in the trial of Ajaz Karim in Brighton, Sussex.

"Elizabeth’s involvement in the trial dates from her time as deputy head at Christ’s Hospital in the early 1990s, and is not related to her time at Wells. The defendant in the trial has never had any known connections with Wells Cathedral School.

"Due to a delay in the sentencing of the defendant, Elizabeth Cairncross is unable to comment on the trial or on the case."

Wells Cathedral School (Image: Wells Cathedral School)

Simon Reid, the current headteacher of Christ's Hospital School, said: "We are deeply sorry that the offences committed by Ajaz Karim almost 30 years ago occurred here at Christ's Hospital.

"Child sexual abuse is an appalling violation of trust which can continue to have an impact on its victims long after it takes place.

"We would like to thank those former pupils whose courage and strength meant that this individual will now finally face justice."

He said the school's safeguarding policy has been improved since the time of the offences and that "any allegations arising now would be dealt with in a very different way".